


In Which Peter Thinks the Hulk Is Cool and Bruce Just Wants This Kid to Be Happy

by Scotty1609



Series: Hey, Kid! (Or How the Avengers Unwittingly Adopted Spiderman) [4]
Category: The Amazing Spider-Man (Movies - Webb), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bruce Banner Has Issues, Bruce Banner Is a Good Bro, Christmas Feels, Light Angst, Minor Bruce Banner/Betty Ross, Peter Feels, Peter is a nerd, Precious Peter Parker, bruce is a nerd, famous Bruce
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-25
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-12 04:14:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9054898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scotty1609/pseuds/Scotty1609
Summary: Bruce Banner is signing autograph the day before Christmas Eve- begrudgingly, mind you- when a certain familiar kid peaks his interest. Bruce invites him to coffee where the boy insists Hulk is amazing. Bruce means to set him straight.





	

**Author's Note:**

> WARNINGS: none.  
> Credit goes to "IDontUnderstandThatReference" for the prompt! Thank you so much, and everybody please keep the prompts coming!!

It was the day before Christmas Eve, and the library was stuffed with people.

Bruce sighed, melancholy. On the one hand, signing autographs for all these people was nice. It was good to know that, despite the Other Guy, he was still appreciated and thought of. It was nice to know that he was gifting people Christmas presents. On the other hand... he would rather be back at Avengers Tower, watching Sam bake and Thor steal bites of cookie dough, conversing with Darcy and Jane while Tony butted in ever so often. He would rather be watching Steve draw the outlandish Christmas tree that brushed the ceiling, Clint clambering up it to try and put a star on top. Natasha would be hovering nearby, trying to look like she didn't care while in actuality she was gearing up to catch Clint when he fell. Pepper and Coulson would be chatting off to the side about their ridiculous bosses, and Rhodey would be pouring his homemade eggnog before Tony drank it all.

“Thank you so much, Dr. Banner! My husband is going to _love_ this gift!”

Bruce smiled at the woman and nodded his 'you're welcome'. It got tiring saying 'you're welcome' to hundreds of people. If only Tony had come like he swore up and down he would... only to insist that he needed to 'supervise' the others in his precious tower. Bruce had insisted that no one needed to accompany him, and he was slightly disappointed but not surprised when no one insisted.

“H-Hello... Dr. Banner...?”

Bruce shook himself out of his stupor to see a young teenager standing in front of him, clutching a piece of paper to his chest. “H-Hi!” the kid chirped, extending the paper. Bruce was only slightly surprised. He had a stack of books next to him, so he was a bit curious as to why the kid wasn't buying a gift.

“Hi,” he responded with a smile, feeling humored as he saw the title of his latest book scrawled across the top of the paper. “What's the name?”

“P-Peter! Peter Parker...” the boy shuffled his feet nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. “Sorry I don't have a book... I lost my only copy of your first edition.”

“Your copy?” Bruce asked, cocking an eyebrow.

The kid nodded excitedly. “Your theory on gamma-radiated mutant genes is to _die_ for, Dr. Banner! I love the concept of the different forms of gamma reacting with-”

“Hey, kid!” hollered a man from the back of the line. “Quit holdin' us up!”

The boy flushed, and Bruce sent a _look_ at the man, who huffed in response.

“That's quite alright,” Bruce told the boy, “in regards to the book, I mean. Do you have the second and third editions, too? I could've signed one of those.”

The boy's blush deepened, and he shook his head. “I- I couldn't really afford... ah...”

Bruce understood, and signed the paper with a flourish, adding on a special note. “Here you go, kid. That a gift?”

The kid shook his head. “Just a selfish wish, Dr. Banner.”

He smiled at the boy. “No worries, Peter. We all deserve to be a little selfish sometimes.”

Another holler from the man in the back of the line had Peter apologizing and shuffling off, embarrassed and guilty. And then Bruce's thoughts were torn away from anything else than methodically signing the books offered to him.

 

…

 

Upon finishing signing autographs, at nearly 6 pm, Bruce stretched and groaned, his back popping. _I'm not_ _ **that**_ _old_ , he told himself, rising up and looking at the empty boxes next to him. He had two more book copies, one for the library and an extra. He supposed the library could use another copy...

“I'm sorry, son, but you need to leave. I let you stay an extra hour because of the book signing, but-”

“Please, Mrs. McCready, just a few more minutes? I'm almost done with chapter five!”

Recognizing the voice as the boy from earlier, Bruce rounded a corner with the two books in hand, smiling softly when he saw Peter curled up in a ball in the reading nook. The kid was reading Bruce's fourth edition book. _He's already at chapter five?_ Bruce thought incredulously.

“I need to check the book back in, Peter,” Mrs. McCready, the librarian, said sadly. “You can always get a library card-”

“Can't afford any late fees,” the boy said.

“Then don't be late, son!” the woman laughed, and Peter rubbed the back of his head self-consciously.

“Ah, not really a thing with me, Mrs. McCready.”

Before he knew what he was doing, Bruce had crossed over towards the two and was holding one of the copies of his book out to the librarian. “Mrs. McCready,” he spoke with a smile, trying not to startle the elderly woman. “He's that second copy for the library.”

“Oh, thank you, Dr. Banner!” the woman gave him a moment before turning back to Peter, holding her hand out for the first copy of the book. “Peter,” she warned him, and the teen sighed dramatically with a smile, handing it back.

Bruce really looked at the kid then, not having had a chance to earlier. His glasses were taped up like the stereotypical poor nerd in any fictional story, and his shirt had a picture of Einstein sticking his tongue out on it. His shoes were emblazoned with the NASA logo, and his backpack had buttons of each of the Avengers and Fantastic Four on it.

The doctor couldn't keep himself from chuckling. “Hey, kid,” he spoke quietly, “we never really got a chance to finish our conversation from earlier. Wanna go grab a coffee?”

Peter made a face for a split second before grinning and nodding. The grin seemed slightly off, as though the boy were hiding something. Bruce extended a hand-up for the kid, who took it eagerly, and any secrecy from him dissipated.

It was snowing outside, the snow on the ground dirty and brown from the taxis and buses on the streets. The boy, a good few inches shorter than Bruce, walked in short, quick paces to keep up, so Bruce slowed down for him. Their breaths came out in white puffs, floating off into the air. The gentle snowflakes falling onto their heads was serene. Albeit the beautiful scene, Bruce was shivering and eager to get inside. And from the thin jacket the kid next to him was wearing, Bruce supposed he wanted to get out of the weather, too.

They stopped at a little corner shop bakery, Bruce opening the door for Peter and inhaling the scent of gingerbread and pumpkin happily. He didn't quite understand Darcy's and Sam's obsession with pumpkin during the holiday season, but Tony claimed it sacrilege and announced peppermint to be the superior Starbucks flavor.

Peter looked rather nervous upon entering the bakery, digging into his wallet with his back to Bruce and counting out dollars and cents.

“Don't worry about it, Peter,” Bruce said with a smile. “I can pay. It's the least I can do for dragging you out here with me.”

Peter shrugged. “I wanted to come.”

Ignoring the boy's embarrassment, Bruce approached the counter. “What do you want to drink?”

Peter's eyes quickly scanned for the cheapest thing on the menu, and he asked for a plain hot chocolate.

“And to eat?”

Peter sputtered for a minute, but upon seeing Bruce's stern glance, he asked for- yet again the cheapest thing- a croissant. Allowing the boy his small, cheap victory, Bruce ordered a hot chocolate, croissant, and a coffee and blueberry bagel for himself. The two odd companions found themselves sitting at a corner booth as they awaited their order.

“So, you've read all my books?” Bruce asked, feeling a tad guilty at the conceited question.

He was quite happy with how Peter's face lit up, however.

“Oh, yeah, Dr. Banner! I've read the first three and five chapters of the fourth!”

“Just today at the library?”

Peter flushed and grinned. “Yeah! I really loved the article you wrote on your data from the Avengers!”

“That one was a bit controversial with them...” Bruce admitted, taking a sip of his coffee. “But in the end, they agreed.” They spoke for several minutes about Bruce's book, and Bruce answered all of his questions as best he could. The boy's conversation truly made him think, just as conversations with Darcy and Jane made him really think. The kid even tied in a few equations he had come up with upon reading the Avengers' data sheets. The way Peter's face lit up at the conversation, how he rushed to ask questions unabashed as he had been earlier, it all made Bruce's heart melt. Back before the Other Guy, he and Betty- oh God did he miss Betty sometimes- had looked into adoption. Bruce himself was infertile, had been born that way (but radiation from his experiments had done him no other favors in that department anyhow). Betty still loved him, though, and they had looked into adoption after a few years. They had gotten far enough to even apply for foster parent status of a little girl. But then the Other Guy happened, and Bruce distanced himself as far as he could from Betty and any dreams of having a family... until the Avengers. He had found and made himself a family, which he couldn't be happier about.

But still... he missed the idea of having a kid.

“Dr. Banner...?”

And whoops, Bruce had zoned out again. “Call me Bruce,” he told the teen, who looked astonished.

“O-Oh! Of course, Dr.- ah, Bruce.”

“So...” Bruce took a bite from his bagel. “What do you think of the Avengers?”

If possible, Peter's face lit up even further. “Oh, man, they're _awesome_! I wish I could be as great- well, I wish I _could_ be as great a hero as them...”

And Bruce's face fell. “No,” he quickly said, “No, Peter, you don't want to be a- a _superhero_.”

Peter's face went stony. “Why not?” he demanded.

“Because you're so- so _young_ , Peter. And you have a future. You're a smart kid- _brilliant_ \- you could work for Stark Industries or OsCorp-”

“ _No_!”

Bruce was taken aback by the boy's forceful response, and Peter looked down at his coffee with a frown, his brows furrowed. “No, just- no. And I mean, S.I., I would still be working for the Avengers! So being a hero isn't _too_ far off, and-”

“Peter, _please_.” Bruce put a hand over the boy's. “Not all heroes are- are good. The Other- The _Hulk_ , he's a _monster_ -”

“ _You're wrong_ , Bruce!”

The shop went quiet at the boy's yell, and Peter flushed red- although Bruce wasn't sure if it was from embarrassment or anger. “You're wrong, Bruce,” Peter said, much quieter. “The Hulk- he's a good guy.”

“He destroyed _Manhattan_ , Peter-”

“He saved my life!”

Bruce froze, once more taken aback. He had hear how the Other Guy saved Tony during the Chitauri invasion, but- but saving this _kid_? He didn't remember Peter at all... But really, he _did_ seem familiar, so maybe... maybe.

“It was during that attack from those _sludge_ monsters a few weeks ago,” Peter began his tale. “I was trapped in the subway, and the Hulk- the Hulk found me. He picked me up and took me to the hospital.”

_No. There's no way... The Other Guy isn't **gentle**... There's no way- no. No way._

“The Hulk is _not_ a hero, Peter,” Bruce said emphatically.

Peter stood, frowning. “Respectively, I think you're wrong, Bruce.” Turning towards the door, Peter spoke with disappointment, “Thank you for the autograph and the hot chocolate, Bruce...”

Bruce sat there, stunned, as Peter walked out the door. Could the Hulk have really rescued this boy? Bruce often lost consciousness to the Other Guy during battles, but every once in a while, he could remember things if they were powerful enough. The only person he remembered rescuing from a subway was Spider-

His eyes grew wide. Peter was the right height, the right stature. But no- that kid? Sure, he was a great kid, but he didn't seem to be the strongest... Then again, looks were deceiving. No one expected the flimsy Bruce Banner to be the Hulk, after all.

Looking down at the last copy of his book next to him, Bruce threw a few dollars on the table for a tip and rushed out the door.

The snow had picked up some, but he could still make out the lithe form of Peter walking away in a rush. The boy crossed the street, and Bruce hurried along after him. “Peter! PETER!” he hollered, making the boy turn. Peter didn't seem to know if he should still be angry or be surprised, so he settled for a mix of the two.

“Dr.- Bruce?” he inquired with confusion. “What are you-”

“Here!” Bruce exclaimed and shoved the book at Peter. “I thought- I thought you should have it. Think of it as an early Christmas present.”

Any residual anger from the boy slowly seeped away into the dirty snow beneath their feet. Tentatively, as though thinking Bruce was joking, the boy took the book from Bruce. “Wow...” he breathed out, a smile slowly creeping onto his face. “Thank you, Bruce...” He spoke so quietly, Bruce almost couldn't hear.

Bruce, in an uncharacteristic fashion, ruffled the kid's hair. “You're welcome, Peter. And don't worry about it.” Rocking back on his feet, Bruce shoved his hands in his pockets. “Well, I guess I'll see you around, kid.”

“M'not a kid,” Peter objected under his breath as Bruce turned to walk away. Just before Bruce could get out of his sight, Peter hollered, “MERRY CHRISTMAS, BRUCE!”

Grinning, Bruce turned to wave. “Merry Christmas, Peter,” he spoke to himself before disappearing into the snow.

 


End file.
